Various space conditioners such as air conditioners for processing a sensible heat load in a room and humidity controllers for processing a latent heat load in a room have hitherto been known.
For example, there is disclosed in Patent Document 1 an air conditioner in which a refrigerant circulates in a refrigerating circuit to perform a cycle of steam compression and refrigeration. To the refrigerating circuit of the air conditioner, a compressor, a room heat exchanger, an expansion valve, an outdoor heat exchanger, and a four-way selector valve are connected. In this air conditioner, the circulating direction of the refrigerant is reversible through switching of the four-way selector valve, and switching between air cooling and heating operation is made possible. In the air cooling operation, air conditioned in the room heat exchanger, which serves as an evaporator, is supplied to the room, thus cooling air of the room. In the heating operation, air heated by the room heat exchanger, which serves as a condenser, is supplied to the room, thus heating the room.
In Patent Document 2, for example, there is disclosed a humidity controller which performs dehumidifying operation for dehumidifying air taken in from outdoors to be supplied to the room and humidifying operation for humidifying air taken in from outdoors to be supplied to the room. This humidity controller is provided with the refrigerating circuit to which is connected an adsorption heat exchanger supporting an adsorbent that performs adsorption of moisture. Specifically, this humidity controller is arranged such that the adsorption heat exchanger functions as the evaporator or the condenser as the circulating direction of the refrigerant switches, thereby enabling the operation to switch between the dehumidifying operation and the humidifying operation. In the dehumidifying operation, the adsorbent is refrigerated by the refrigerant evaporating in the adsorption heat exchanger. Moisture of the air taken in from outdoors, when passing through the adsorption heat exchanger, is adsorbed by this adsorbent while being refrigerated, whereupon the dehumidified and refrigerated air is supplied to the room. In the humidifying operation, the adsorbent is heated by the refrigerant condensed in the adsorption heat exchanger and the moisture adsorbed in the adsorbent is released. The air taken in from outdoors, when passing through the adsorption heat exchanger, is provided with moisture which has desorbed while being heated, whereupon the humidified and heated air is supplied to the room.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-106609
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-294048